Emmanuel Garba, the father of the late Deborah Yakubu, has lamented the death of his first child who was lynched over allegedly blasphemous statements against Prophet Muhammad.
WuzupNigeria reported that the Christian 200-level Home Economics student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto was laid to rest in her hometown, Tungan Magajiya, in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State on Saturday.
The deceased was the first of the eight children of her parents, according to Deborah’s father who lamented that they used all their resources on her education.
As a result of Deborah’s murder, the chances that her seven siblings will get proper education is next to zero, according to her mother, Alheri Emmanuel, who vowed that none of her children will ever go to school again after their first daughter was murdered on school premises.
Speaking to The PUNCH on Sunday, Alheri who broke down in tears, said, “I have no demands; I don’t want anything but one thing I know is that my children will never go to school again.”
Meanwhile, Emmanuel revealed that the government has not contacted them yet over the gruesome murder of Deborah but they’ve settled not to seek any legal redress.
The arrest of her suspected killers led to a riot in the Sokoto on Saturday as hoodlums attacked churches and shops in some parts of the state, demanding the release of those arrested over the lynching of Deborah.
However, Garba, a security guard with the Niger State Water and Sanitation, said that they do not want vengeance or anything from the government but have left all to God.
He stated, “I have yet to get a call or message from anyone concerning the incident. Nobody called me; I decided to go on my own. I went to the state CID (Criminal Investigation Department) office and begged them to help me get the corpse so I could bury it because leaving it there might make it decompose. Then they took me to the mortuary, did some paperwork and released the remains to me.”
“I was the one who paid to transport the remains. I was charged N120,000 which I was forced to pay because that was the cheapest I got as the majority of people don’t like transporting corpses.”
Garba revealed that his wife had fallen ill, adding that she had just finished receiving injections.
He also stated, “We are not seeking redress in any court over the killing of our daughter. We are firm believers in Christ who always leave everything in the hands of God. No vengeance, nothing. Everything is left to our creator.
“We don’t want anything (from the government) but it is just unfortunate that we used all our resources to send her to school and now she is dead. She was my eldest child and I have seven others left.”
